Speed Gardening!

I don’t know about you but, I love to get things done quickly.

Because, as much as I love being in the garden, I have other things I need to get done!

After presprouting my seeds (which you can learn all about here) I want to make sure and get them all in the soil ASAP! Once those roots first sprout, you MUST get them in the soil, otherwise they will wind and wrap into the paper towel and you won’t be able to remove them safely! (*** Worst-case scenario, if your roots are already wrapped into the paper towel, you can just plant it with bits of the paper towel still attached! It will decompose).

So, if you’re ready to get these seeds to their home:

let’s do some Speed-Gardening!

The first thing you’ll need to do is prepare your garden beds.

How to Prep Your Garden Bed:

• Pull any weeds that are in the garden bed (we LOVE using this weed puller tool!!)

• Remove some of the mulch where I intend to plant new seeds

• Top the soil with a layer of fresh soil/compost mix

• lay drip line (if using)

Tools You’ll Need:

• A garden hoe (because hoeing ain’t easy, but it’s especially hard without a hoe!)

• vermiculite (you can find it on amazon here)

• Your Seeds!

Planting Time:

The hoe:

1. First, even out the soil as needed (especially if your cat has enjoyed the fresh litter box that you call a garden bed… *sigh*)

2. Drag the garden hoe down the entire length of the garden bed using the sharp corner to create a long “ditch”

3. At the end of the bed, place the hoe about 6 inches away from your ditch and drag the hoe back down to the first end, creating a second “ditch”

4. Create 3-4 ditches, depending on size of your garden bed

via GIPHY

The Vermiculite:

1. Place a small handful of vermiculite in each spot where you want to plant a seed. This will be depending on seed spacing recommendations. Maybe every 6”, maybe every 9” etc. See Video example:

2. Water down each vermiculite pile. Seeds need to stay moist, so watering down these piles will help maintain moisture while also improving soil drainage. I’m a big fan of using vermiculite!

via GIPHY

With the Seeds:

1. Place 1-2 seeds on each pile of Vermiculite. (If they have presprouted and have a tiny root popping out, you can rest-assured they will begin growing. If your seeds have not been presprouted, you may want to plant 2 seeds per spot, to be safe!)

2. gently cover with soil - The FASTEST way to do this is to gently drag your garden hoe back along the side of the ditch to gently drop the extra soil back on top of your seeds.

3. Water the entire garden bed well!

And LAST but NOT LEAST:

One of the BEST decisions I’ve ever made when it comes to growing seeds in the garden is covering the bed!

You can cover the bed with:

• frost cloth,

• deer netting, or

• fencing.

Why? Because:

• Birds love to munch tiny seed shells popping up (which will rip the seedling out)

• Deer love the taste of tiny seedlings

• Cats love to use freshly dug soil as a litter box

• It lets your friends and family know this is not an area for digging in the dirt!!

So that’s it! This entire process actually goes pretty darn quickly! It’s much more efficient than digging individual tiny holes, placing one seed at a time, and then covering those tiny holes.

If you try it out, let me know how you like it!